Sunday, January 06, 2013

They weren't shot, but they are no less dead. And there was a gun and shooter ...

A San Francisco man charged with killing two people with his car while fleeing from police in the Mission District was on probation for participating in a criminal street gang, the district attorney's office said Friday.

David Morales, 19, was convicted in April 2012 in San Mateo County for gang activity, said San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón. Prosecutors say Morales is a member of the Norteños.

Police arrested Morales on New Year's Day after he allegedly ran a red light and slammed his black Chevrolet Impala into a Toyota sedan in the intersection of 21st Street and South Van Ness Avenue at about 8 a.m.

The impact of the collision sent the Toyota spinning into a pedestrian, Francisco Gutierrez, 26, of San Francisco. He was killed.

Also killed in the crash was Silvia Tuncun, 29, of San Francisco, who was a passenger in the Toyota. The driver, an 18-year-old man, is still in the hospital in serious condition.

Investigators said Morales had just driven through the Valencia Gardens housing complex at 14th and Guerrero streets and fired a gun at three young men. None of them was injured.

… In addition to two counts of murder, Morales is charged with three counts of attempted murder for the shooting at Valencia Gardens. He is also accused of evading police, participating in a criminal street gang and being a felon in possession of a handgun.

At the taqueria tonight, there's a collection box by the cash register:
Francisco's friends are raising funds to send his body home to his native Honduras. Collection boxes like this show up several times a year at Mission stores. This can be a dangerous place to come for work.

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What's this blog about?

My musings on current events, current projects, current anxieties and current delights.

I started this under the Bush regime when any grain of sand thrown into the gears of the over-reaching imperial state seemed worthwhile.

I have worked to elect more and better Democrats -- and to hammer the shit out of them once we get them in office so they do the things their constituents want and need. It's a big job.

I have endured the dashed potential for a more transformational regime under Obama. The man has made himself an accomplice in the imperial crimes of his predecessor as well as committing his own. He has also almost certainly been the most progressive president most of us will live to see. I fear we'll look back on his years in office with mild gratitude for a respite from national leadership that was habitually stupid and vicious, as well as wrong.

Visitors here will find a lot of commentary on books I'm reading. I am very intentionally reading intensively offline these days. When it feels hard to find direction, it's time to learn something new.

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About Me

I'm a progressive political activist who runs trails and climbs mountains whenever any are available. I've had the privilege to work for justice in Central America (Nicaragua and El Salvador), in South Africa, in the fields of California with the United Farmworkers Union, and in the cities and schools of my own country. I'm a Christian of the Episcopalian flavor; we think and argue a lot. For work, I've done a bit of it all: run an old fashioned switch-board; remodeled buildings and poured concrete; edited and published periodicals, reports and books; and organized for electoral campaigns. I am currently an independent consultant to organizations seeking "help when you have to make a fight."